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Outside the cafe by the cracker factory
You were practicing a magic trick
And my thoughts got rude, as you talked and chewed
On the last of your pick and mix
Said your mistaken if your thinking that I haven't been caught cold before
As you bit into your strawberry lace
And then a flip in your attention in the form of a gobstopper
Is all you have left and it was going to waste
Your past-times, consisted of the strange
And twisted and deranged
And I love that little game you had called
Crying lightning
And how you like to aggravate the ice-cream man on rainy afternoons
The next time that I caught my own reflection
It was on it's way to meet you
Thinking of excuses to postpone
You never look like yourself from the side
But your profile did not hide
The fact you knew I was approaching your throne
With folded arms you occupy the bench like toothache
Saw them, puff your chest out like you never lost a war
And though I try so not to suffer the indignity of a reaction
There was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw
And your past-times, consisted of the strange
And twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called
Crying lightning
And how you like to aggravate the icky man on rainy afternoons
Uninviting
But not half as impossible as everyone assumes
You are crying lightning
Your past-times, consisted of the strange
And twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called
Crying lightning
Crying lightning
Crying lightning
Crying lightning
Your past-times, consisted of the strange
And twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called
Crying
You were practicing a magic trick
And my thoughts got rude, as you talked and chewed
On the last of your pick and mix
Said your mistaken if your thinking that I haven't been caught cold before
As you bit into your strawberry lace
And then a flip in your attention in the form of a gobstopper
Is all you have left and it was going to waste
Your past-times, consisted of the strange
And twisted and deranged
And I love that little game you had called
Crying lightning
And how you like to aggravate the ice-cream man on rainy afternoons
The next time that I caught my own reflection
It was on it's way to meet you
Thinking of excuses to postpone
You never look like yourself from the side
But your profile did not hide
The fact you knew I was approaching your throne
With folded arms you occupy the bench like toothache
Saw them, puff your chest out like you never lost a war
And though I try so not to suffer the indignity of a reaction
There was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw
And your past-times, consisted of the strange
And twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called
Crying lightning
And how you like to aggravate the icky man on rainy afternoons
Uninviting
But not half as impossible as everyone assumes
You are crying lightning
Your past-times, consisted of the strange
And twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called
Crying lightning
Crying lightning
Crying lightning
Crying lightning
Your past-times, consisted of the strange
And twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called
Crying
Lyrics submitted by olliemilton
Track duration: 03:42
"Crying Lightning" as written by Alex Turner
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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So, they're standing outside of a cafe and she's talking and chewing on her candy and he's thinking about how rude that is. She's like "I don't care, I've been called cold before. Hey you want a gobstopper, because I'm not gonna eat it?" And he's talking about how she's strange but she doesn't care and she doesn't mind putting people out of their comfort zone if she wants something (who goes to the ice-cream man in the rain?) But he used to like that she was so confident and got what she wanted.
Now he's trying to see her less because when she sees him she's not even that excited (your profile could not hide the fact you knew I was approaching your throne. With folded arms...) She doesn't even react to his approach and he's trying not to get hurt by it, but there's nothing there (no cracks to grasp...) to tell him that he isn't right. She's playing this game again and he hates it. And maybe when he brings it up she shouts and jumps around like the crazy person she is haha.
"My thoughts got rude" yeah, definitely him getting turned on. And probably not a 'we should kiss and hold hands' sort of way.
"You're mistaken if you're thinkin that I 'aven't been called cold before" she has a reputation for being a difficult girl to hook up with, and just not caring about guys/people
"...attention in the form of a gobstopper" she's just tossing him her leftovers, rather than really investing anything in him. Although it's interesting that it's really *Everlasting* Gobstopper, so maybe she really is committing to him.
"Crying Lightning ... on rainy afternoons" literally, she's yelling about lightning, driving everyone inside and losing the icecream man business. Figuratively, she's giving a sudden false alarm (I have a headache/cramps/don't feel like it) and suddenly leaving him frustrated (I shouldn't have to make the allusion to licking an icecream cone)
"The next time ... thinking of excuses to postpone" he knows that being involved with this girl is a bad idea, but he can't stop himself.
"Your profile does not hide ... approaching your throne" she's got him completely enslaved, 'approach the throne' is what peasants or servants would do when begging royalty.
"You occupy the bench like toothache" the bench, in a courtroom, and she's there- you can't ignore her.
"Puff your chest out like you'd never lost a war" she's very proud, she's always gotten what she wanted. This line also makes me think of Americans, who brag that they've never lost a war.
"And though ... indignity of reaction ... or gaps to hold" whole line, basically, she's sticking her chest out, he's trying not to get turned on by looking at her breasts (she's NOT showing them on purpose) but there's nothing else he can do BUT look and be aroused. The indignity = Awkward erection.
"Hate that ... icky man on rainy afternoons" now we get the reference from the first chorus- he's kinda mad now, so he drops the sarcasm, and replaces Icecream Man with 'Icky', dirty/sticky everything unglamorous about sex.
"Uninviting but not half as impossible" back to the 'been called cold before'. She's a bit intimidating and she doesn't seem to actively go after anybody, but at the same time, she's not impossible to get along with. Sort of a "once you get to know her, she's not so bad" line, which is a common phrase you hear from most people who are in a bad relationship:
'dude, your girlfriend is a bitch'
'oh, she's not so bad once you get to know her'
'but she *beats* you man'
"Your pasttimes consisted of the strange, twisted, deranged..." she enjoys toying with guys' emotions, in a very twisted and sadistic sort of way.
------------
So think about it, the song is about that one girl that everyone knows, who's just bad news. She's a tease, she knows how to use her charms/sex to make men do whatever she wants them to. The guys even know that she doesn't love them, she's just tossing them little bits of free time here and there, but she's too hot/good-in-bed to turn down. You don't *want* to see her and let her play you like that, but you can't help it.
'I'd say that the narrator in the song is a side kick of the hard man bully of his school.'
All the references to pic'n'mix, gob-stoppers, ice cream man etc clearly shows its set in the narrators childhood, that's part of the brilliance of the lyrics, how he uses the name of sweets to paint the scene.
The 'crying lightning' is about the boy/girl who is seen as the leader within the playground or school who knows how to manipulate people/adults through crocodile tears and his/her twisted games. At first he likes being part of it and joining in and being rebelious but after the first chorus clearly something has gone wrong and one of the 'twisted games' has gone too far, that's why he wants to postpone but this kid has so much power within their gang or group hence the lines
But your profile does not hide the fact you knew i was approaching your throne.
With folded arms you occupied the bench like toothache,
Stood and puffed your chest out like you'd never lost the war,
The bench is the throne around which their gang meet and he sits in the middle as the leader as though its a throne. The reference to toothache is great, linking to the sweets reference before but also indicating that his position on the throne is not wanted and causes much stress. He knows he can do nothing about this kid and neither can others because he has such confidence and knows how to control others never 'losing a war'.
The song then ends with him hating the kid and the games realising that people give in to him because they think he/she is impossible to deal with - 'not half as impossible as everyone assumes you are' when really he inst its just the manipulative games he/she plays...called crying lightning.
Its not perfect, my translation of the lyrics but to not think the several references to sweets is not about childhood is ridiculous, he might be writing the song because someone now reminds him of those times but the scene he paints in the lyrics is definitely a manipulative kid at school girl or boy and we've all known a kid like that. I expect lots of negative replies now.
"outside the cafe by the cracker factory you were practising a magic trick
and as my thoughts got rude as you talked and chewed on the last of your pics and mix"
he meets her and becomes instantly attracted to her and is turned on by watching her eat her pick and mix.
"you said "you're mistaken if you're thinking that i haven't been called 'cold' before
as you bit into your strawberry lace
then offered me your attention in the form of a gobstopper
it's all you had left and it was going to waste"
she's a sweet girl but she lets him know that she has been described as 'cold' in the past. she then offers him the last of her sweets, it's a gobstopper so she probably wanted to shut him up by offering him the gobstopper.
"your pastimes consisted of the strange, the twisted and deranged
and i loved that little game you had called 'crying lightening'
and how you liked to aggravate the ice cream man on rainy afternoons"
the girl has strange interests and does weird things in her spare time. when she cries it's like lightening and rain that will lose the ice cream man custom cos he can't sell too many icecreams when it's raining.
"the next time that i caught my own reflection is was on its way to meet you,
thinking of excuses to postpone.
when he looks at himself in the mirror he sees himself meeting her again but he's scared and thinks up excuses not to meet her.
"you never looked like yourself from the side but your profile could not hide
the fact you knew i was approaching your throne"
he thinks of her as if she is a princess and she knows that he thinks she is a princess too.
"with folded arms you occupied the bench like toothache,
stood and puffed your chest out like you'd never lost a war.
although i tried so not to suffer the indignity of a reaction
there was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw"
she's so sweet she's like a toothache and she's confident that she has got him and so she "puffed her chest out like she never lost a war". he tried not to show his attraction to her but couldn't "there was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw".
"uninviting, but not half as impossible as everyone assumes you are."
she not warming to him but he's not doing too badly, not "as impossible as everyone assumes".